Damaged
by hand-made-city
Summary: She promised to watch his back, and what had he done? Burned hers. Royai drabble.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters.

**A/N:** Finally something that _isn't _based on chapter 100… o_o Bahah, I don't even write things with plots.. I guess you could call them drabbles then…

…

Roy Mustang lay on his bed, thinking of absolutely nothing.

In a trance, he listened to the constant and perfectly timed sound of his own breathing. His arm covered his eyes and he lay there in peace, waiting to drift off. It was 8pm.

Without warning, he heard something clatter in the kitchen. He raised his arm slightly for a moment before covering his eyes again.

_It's her._

He lifted himself from the bed and went to the source of the noise, knowing exactly what he'd find. Sure enough, there she was putting groceries away. One bag was already emptied, and another remained on the counter. When he entered the room, she looked over her shoulder to give him a small welcoming smile.

"Hello, sir. I had a suspicion you didn't have any food in your apartment, considering those ridiculously large portions of food you ate at lunch today," she bent over to rearrange the items in the lower cabinet. "So I bought you a few things. I hope you don't mind."

Roy smirked. Only she would pick up on the tiniest of clues that way.

"Thank you, lieutenant, though you didn't have to go through the trouble. I can shop for my own things, you know," Roy said, picking up the egg carton and examining it. He braced his hands on the counter and peeked inside another bag.

Milk, meat, fruit, vegetables… it was all there.

He grinned from above the bag. "You take good care of me, you know that? I think I asked for an aide, not a mother."

Riza scowled at him. "I only do this because you waste your time with other things and don't care for yourself!"

Roy strode around the counter to stand next to her. He leaned back on the counter with a heavy sigh and watched her rearrange some more.

…

Later that evening, after the two had shared dinner, they sat down on the sofa to unwind a bit.

Roy polished off his glass of wine and set it down on the coffee table. He pointedly looked up at Riza, mouth open as if he wanted to say something.

After a long pause- "It might seem a strange time to ask you about this, but I haven't seen your back since… that time. How did it heal?"

Riza looked at him in surprise.

"It's healed just fine, sir. I've lost feeling in certain areas, but other than that, I haven't had any problems."

He was actually shocked to hear this. He frowned, knowing that he should have realized this by now. By burning her back, her _skin_, he was damaging certain nerves and she'd lose feeling as a result. His mind briefly flashed to Havoc, who was lying helpless in a hospital ten minutes away. He was also with damaged nerves, though on a larger scale.

_Damaged_. _My fault?_

Roy inched closer to Riza on the sofa. She averted her eyes, wondering what would come next. She felt his fingers press into her shoulder blade, but felt little else.

"Here?"

Riza turned her head to look at him. He had an odd expression about his face.

"Nothing."

His fingers trailed a bit lower.

"How about here?"

"No."

Roy frowned. Did she even realize the amount of pressure he was putting on her? His hand moved to the other side of her back and pressed down again. This garnered a reaction. Riza arched her back and let out a small hiss of pain. Roy flinched and removed his hand.

"So it was that bad, huh?" He murmured.

"It's not so bad. I've gotten used to it," Riza assured him. Ignoring her, Roy buried his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry… I've done all the damage. You've done nothing wrong, but it was _me_…"

Riza snapped to attention, sliding the wine bottle across the table, away from him.

"Sir, you've had a bit much to drink. You're saying stupid things now," she chastised. He watched with tired eyes as the empty bottle slid away.

"I'm not even close to being drunk, Riza." She started at the sound of her name. This time, it sounded harsh on his lips. She leaned back into the cushiony seat and sighed.

"But you wish you were…" she mumbled, turning her head away. Roy put his head back into his hands.

"Yeah, sometimes."

Two whole minutes passed in dead silence.

Then, Roy felt a pair of arms come around his shoulders, bringing warmth and comfort. He immediately relaxed at Riza's touch.

"Lieutenant?"

She rested her head on his shoulder, and he could feel her shaking her head.

"I'll always watch your back…" She whispered gently.

"Lieutenant-"

"Shh. We'll talk some other time. It'll keep."

And so it would.


End file.
